Of self-righteous joy
As I came roaring back into the village, lights flashing, sirens wailing, with greatly renewed energy and vigor, I was exultant.
But I must digress. The warm glow of the after-election had left me somewhat tired. In fact, I was feeling about a quart and a half low on self-righteous indignation. I sought a cure for this lacking. I drove through the parking lots of a few local watering holes and found it. The Prius with the "God is my copilot; Jesus is my Uber driver" bumper sticker.
Inside I found Professor Phineas Phogbottom and Sassy Sue. He was holding forth on his disgusting liberal views to a group of like-minded idiots: "In the Old Testament, to get the Ten Commandments Moses left the Israelites feeling alone and abandoned by God, and they erected a golden calf to worship. The modern-day folks merely elected a golden a** to worship."
The longer I listened, the greater my self-righteous indignation grew until I felt whole again. As he began to speak of Sen. Jason Rapert being our Moses to lead us back into the joys of the "good ol' days," I screamed, "The only good liberal is a dead liberal," and stomped out, fully restored. Thank God for Possum Poot!
STEVE GIBSON
Little Rock
Shouldn't hide abuse
Do we Arkansans not care about animals or free speech?
Do you know how well our senators and congressmen score on the Humane Score Card of the Humane Society's Legislative Fund? Based on their legislative records on animal welfare, both Sen. John Boozman and Sen. Tom Cotton score zero. Each of our four congressmen scores seven. That's seven out of 100.
And our state legislators and governor? On March 23 they passed into law HB1665 (Act 606), intended to discourage (you can be sued) the public reporting of animal abuse. The Humane Society, ASPCA and Animal Legal Defense Fund categorized it as an Ag-Gag bill, and tried to alert us to fight its passage. We didn't have time. They warned us that it would not only stifle reporting of negligence or abuse in the likes of puppy mills and hog farms, but in nursing homes and day-care facilities as well. For Act 606 makes no distinction between types of businesses. Nor does it protect an employee who can't live silently with what he or she has seen.
I don't believe curtailing free speech or hiding abuse of humans or animals reflects our values. We do care and we must let our representatives know that.
RANDALL WARD
Garfield
Russian to conclusion
So Chairman Nunes reads the intelligence report and runs hot-foot to the White House, crying, "Chicken Biggie, Chicken Biggie, the sky is falling!"
Did Trump's people really believe they could talk to the Russians and not be recorded?
What a shame Walt Kelly is gone--how he would love this.
J.E. CALDWELL
Stuttgart
Execution alternative
I would like to say something about the death penalty in the United States, and I doubt if this will be considered for printing because it may get a lot of people riled up. This is exactly what I would like for my letter to do.
Instead of sentencing someone to death for murder, I think the sentence should be "the gift of life." Lungs, hearts, kidneys, and other body parts should be donated to someone who may need them to live a longer life.
Some men and women have been on death row for 15 years or more. They were convicted of murder when they were younger, stronger, and healthier. Many law-abiding citizens have died waiting for a heart, lung, or kidney transplant.
I would guess that most people would not want an organ from a murderer, but it would help them live longer. It does not mean that they may become a murderer also.
I'm not like Dr. Frankenstein, and many people may think of this as morbid. I want everyone to think outside of the narrow box.
MILTON MURRAY
McNeil
Post office surprises
Surprises from the post office usually unfold from inside an envelope. And if the envelope is certified, hold your breath.
The other day, on my way to work, I stopped by the downtown post office to pick up my mail and was met with an unexpected surprise. A large bundle of wrinkled material was stuffed under the small courtesy table situated in the lobby area. I've been following this post office practice for over 40 years and this sight was disturbing. A complete surprise.
As I approached the bundle, I noticed it had toes on one end and a hood on the other. Propping up the hood was a tattered, discolored backpack.
My involuntary response was to go into "quiet" mode as if I'd trespassed on a newborn sleeping in a cradle.
In reality, I'd walked into an unfortunate and inexcusable reality being played out in Jonesboro and other cities across the wealthiest country on earth.
As we progress through tax season, I'm reminded of how fortunate I am to have a tax-paying job, but I'm uncomfortable knowing my contributions are being invested in guns, bombs and, yes, weapons of mass destruction. I'm all for a strong defense, not to mention a strong offense, but a priority in any tax-budget strategy should be eliminating poverty and caring for the poor. Unfortunately, this priority, as evidenced in our current president's budget, is following the tragic path of an old soldier: It's fading away.
The world's wealthiest nation is yanking the welcome mat from under the bare feet of its poorest and most vulnerable. Now, more than ever, it's time to go postal.
Sad.
HARRY HERGET
Jonesboro
Issues with children
I would consider our society to be split in regards to different social issues. Lately, the big controversy is whether or not we should involve homosexual characters in big production films.
In my personal opinion, I believe that people have the right to do whatever they want, seeing that we are a free country, but I do not believe we should exploit these issues to our children so early. Currently, we are doing this very act through various production films such as Power Rangers and Beauty and the Beast that are aimed to reach the younger audience. This audience is too young to know about the problems in this world. Let's have them keep their childhood for as long as they can.
I'd like to know your thoughts on the matter. Thank you for your time.
HOLLY HINES
Conway
Did he even read it?
Politicians should at least catalog constituents' opinions when they express them.
I recently emailed Sen. Tom Cotton to express my opposition to increases in the bloated and wasteful defense budget. His response was a form letter thanking me for my support for increases in the DoD budget.
How are we supposed to get their attention?
WILLIAM BAILEY
Hot Springs
Editorial on 03/31/2017